Association between smoking cessation and sexual health in men

Abstract

Objective To provide the first empirical investigation of the association between smoking cessation and indices of physiological and subjective sexual health in men. Subjects and methods Male smokers, irrespective of erectile dysfunction status, who were motivated to stop smoking (‘quitters’), were enrolled in an 8-week smoking cessation programme involving a nicotine transdermal patch treatment and adjunctive counselling. Participants were assessed at baseline (while smoking regularly), at mid-treatment (while using a high-dose nicotine transdermal patch), and at a 4-week post-cessation follow-up. Physiological (circumferential change via penile plethysmography) and subjective sexual arousal indices (continuous self-report), as well as self-reported sexual functioning were assessed at each visit. Results Intent-to-treat analyses indicated that, at follow-up, successful quitters (n = 20), compared with those who relapsed (n = 45), showed enhanced erectile tumescence responses, and faster onset to reach maximum subjective sexual arousal. Although successful quitters displayed across-session enhancements in sexual function, they did not show a differential improvement compared with unsuccessful quitters. Conclusion Smoking cessation significantly enhances both physiological and self-reported indices of sexual health in long-term male smokers, irrespective of baseline erectile impairment. It is hoped that these results may serve as a novel means to motivate men to stop smoking.

Ethnicity and Smoking Status are Associated with Awareness of Smoking Related Genitourinary Diseases

“…15 Furthermore, quitting smoking also decreases the risk of erectile dysfunction and it may improve erectile tumescence and time to arousal. 11 The Health Professionals Follow-up Study showed that former smokers were at lower risk for erectile dysfunction than men who continued to smoke. 26 Three previous series indicate that patients have minimal knowledge of the causal role of smoking in bladder cancer, including a study that also examined this in relation to kidney cancer.…”

Drug Addiction and Sexual Dysfunction

“…[13][14][15][16][17] The impact of smoking on erectile function, although more evident in older men, can be found in men under the age of 45 years. [14][15][16] There are several reasons smoking affects sexual function. 6,13 First, nicotine is considered a strong vasoconstrictor and therefore can significantly reduce blood flow to the male and female genitals during sexual activity.…”

Predictors of 1-, 6- and 12-month smoking cessation among a community-recruited sample of adult smokers in the United States

“…Using the intent-to-treat approach (coding those lost to follow up as unsuccessfully quit), 22/65 (34%) were classified as successfully quit at the 1month follow-up and 12/65 (18%) and 11/65 (17%) were classified as successful quitters at the 6-and 12-month follow-up periods, respectively. For additional details pertaining to participant flow, we refer the reader to the parent study, which describes data using Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guidelines (Harte & Meston, 2011).…”

“…More details are described elsewhere (Harte & Meston, 2011). In brief, during an initial telephone screening, a quit date was set, which corresponded to the day after the first visit to the clinic.…”